Should we drop support for kernels <2.6.22 in our v4l-dvb repository?
_: Yes
_: No
Yes.
Why:
I'm a v4l-user, I use my VDR for a couple of years now. These were the
steps I took, before I assembled my box:
- I have analog cable, so what hardware does exist, that is capable to
record video on an old PC (even my desktop had only a 400MHz Celeron)?
- Which of these pieces are supported by Linux?
For me it ended up with a PVR150 and an DXR3, later replaced by a
PVR350. I started with kernel 2.6.9, that time ivtv wasn't part of the
kernel, it was even outside v4l-dvb (am I correct?). Without a large
amount of help from the ivtv-lists and VDR forum, that would have been a
disaster for me. I can't say how glad I was, when I read the news, that
ivtv was integrated in the kernel.
What I'm trying to say is: when you need support for hardware, you
have to upgrade your kernel and there are many other people beside the
main driver developer which can help you. In the "hot" time of
integrating ivtv in the kernel, I back off asking Hans for supporting an
older kernel, since all I wanted was a working driver. And if that means
I have to upgrade the kernel, I just have to do it.
I get paid for developing and maintaining some specialized desktop
applications since ~15 years now (~200 users), and from that point of
view, sometimes you have to drop support for older installations
respectively have to upgrade those to some level, because it's just a
pain. I can remember what a relief it was, to be able to drop support
for Windows 98 and base my company's (rather complex and large) ERP-app
on some "real" Windows (>= 2000). (right now we're right in the middle
of porting from Win32/C++ to .Net3.5/C#, guess who will make a jig when
it's done...)
Reading the diverse postings and from my point of knowledge and
experience, I think it's best to swap the development model to an "in
kernel"-tree, that feeds a compat-tree, which supports kernel-versions
that are reasonable. And if someone has fun backporting (i2c-related)
drivers below 2.6.22, than let him do it. But let the main developer do
their work in keeping uptodate with new hardware and new kernels. They
get old soon enough. (the kernel, not the developers...) ;-)
Lars.
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